A constant complaint I hear from agents, editors, writing teachers, and reviewers is that they see too many manuscripts with inappropriate word counts.If you’re getting a lot of form rejections or simply silence from agents, reviewers and editors, this may be why.

Word count guidelines have been trending down in the last decade. Most editors won’t look at a debut manuscript longer than 100K words—a little longer if it’s fantasy or a non-romance historical. They were not so rigid ten years ago.

Now publishers—and many readers—won’t take a chance on any long book by an unproven author.

Article continues >HERE>
]]>PublishingPiPhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176506-Word-Count-GuidelinesCreateSpace versus Nook Print Serviceshttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176479-CreateSpace-versus-Nook-Print-Services?goto=newpost
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 02:34:27 GMTIf you are considering publishing in print, here is something to consider. I posted this on twitter the other day, so pardon the link, but I didn't feel like downloading the pics all over again.

If you publish on Createspace or Nook Print, you may wanna read the thread anyhow.

https://twitter.com/RalphRotten0/sta...08314578796544
]]>PublishingRalph Rottenhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176479-CreateSpace-versus-Nook-Print-ServicesHow are translations handled?https://www.writingforums.com/threads/176469-How-are-translations-handled?goto=newpost
Sat, 17 Mar 2018 02:10:31 GMTI recently got a plea for information on how translations of one's work is handled. Not sure why she felt I could be her savior, but I said I'd try to find out something for her. I think this writer is traditionally published, in which case, wouldn't her publisher handle all this for her? She's worried that she'll have to be the one to pay for the translation, and that she won't receive any royalties for the translated edition. Even lose her rights to her book. I don't think that she would, but I've never been in this situation.

Anyone have experience or better knowledge of how it all works?
]]>PublishingAnita M Shawhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176469-How-are-translations-handledHow long do you give an agent to look at a full MS?https://www.writingforums.com/threads/176436-How-long-do-you-give-an-agent-to-look-at-a-full-MS?goto=newpost
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 14:01:15 GMTSent a MS to a bunch of publishers and agents last year, and had one agent ask for the full MS, which I sent in October. As of yet, I haven't had a decision on it, despite me chasing the agent multiple times after I looked up an appropriate chasing time, and gave them three months to read it. I've been told twice that they'll get right on it and come back to me, but both times, nothing has happened. I'm a patient man, but this is really pushing my buttons, especially as my previous agent had the MS for a whole year before getting back to me and saying they didn't see it as a seller. So that was a year wasted! To complicate matters, while I wait for this agent's response, I've had publication offers from two indie presses for the book, both of whom I've asked to hang fire till I hear from the agent. But that was now over a month ago.

So what's my move, brothers and sisters? Current state of affairs is I spoke to the agent in question on the phone last Monday (the 5th) and they promised the MS was at the top of their pile and they would be back to me by the end of last week. I've heard nothing, but as I know it's a hectic industry full of overworked people, if someone says they'll get back to me in a week, I'll expect to hear from them in a fortnight. Now I'm getting officially sick of waiting, and am thinking if I've not heard from them by this weekend to just take one of the indie presses offers as I just want the book, which was finished and edited almost two years ago now, to get out there. I know people can get snowed under, and I'm not overly sensitive, impatient or unable to take rejection, but this is starting to feel like I'm being made a dick of!
]]>PublishingDave Watsonhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176436-How-long-do-you-give-an-agent-to-look-at-a-full-MSInterior fontshttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176421-Interior-fonts?goto=newpost
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 15:49:08 GMTI had always considered Times Roman to be the only interior body font for a print book. Being old-school I was taught that it was the law, books...I had always considered Times Roman to be the only interior body font for a print book. Being old-school I was taught that it was the law, books should be in Times New Roman or they will reek of vanity press-amateur layout, etc.

But at the book fair I ran into someone who was trying to convince me that there are other similar fonts that are also acceptable in the modern publishing world, and actually help the book look more modern.

So to you indie authors (and the conventionally published ones as well) have you ever used any other font besides Times NR for your main body font in a book? What impressions do you get when you see a book printed in garabond or some such alternate font?
]]>PublishingRalph Rottenhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176421-Interior-fontshttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176419-Why-would-some-company-say-my-book-s-reviews-aren-t-good?goto=newpost
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 15:34:33 GMTI'm talking about book 1 of my series. I pitched it to a movie company using a website called 'green light my movie'. This wasn't my first time, though. About 15 companies have rejected it for various reasons (which I expected since I heard you would be lucky to land a movie deal in 10 years), such as being too big of a budget, although some of them actually liked the synopsis. However, last night, one company said that my "reviews were not good". I thought they were crazy to say that. The book's rating on Amazon is a 4.2 with 127 reviews. All the reviews are legitimate, including the positive ones. There are more positive reviews than neutral and negative. A decent number of the positive reviews said that they would love to see the story as a movie or TV show. I don't get why the reviews were "not be good". I wish I could ask, except that I'm not allowed to contact them.
Unless... they meant that that there were not enough. The book is over four and a half years old. And I am well aware that movie companies want to find material that they know would be successful. And they define successful as having several thousands and thousands of reviews in less than a year (correct me if I'm wrong). I wonder if that was what they meant when they said that "the reviews were not good".
I get that it's nearly impossible to sell movie rights for your book, especially if it's self-published. There have been a few exceptions of books that had originally been self published, such as "The Martian" and "Legally Blonde", but have been picked up by traditional publishers before landing movie deals. I know that it may be fantasy for my book to become a movie, even if some of the reviewers said that they would like to see that. However, that won't stop from giving up.
]]>Publishingsunaynaprasadhttps://www.writingforums.com/threads/176419-Why-would-some-company-say-my-book-s-reviews-aren-t-good